


Bright Star

by Ozxiii



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, anyway i promise that the first chapter is funny, are the dominant ships i suppose, but it's kind of a bit of everything, well theres a lot of ups and downs lets just say that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 11:18:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5414822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ozxiii/pseuds/Ozxiii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chat Noir decides to ask Ladybug out one last time, and Marinette is worried about her partner. Cue idiots being idiots and feelings.</p><p>UPDATE: I only posted one chapter but this fic will never be finished because I'm recycling the idea for another fic. Sorry!! I hope you read the other one when I start posting though :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bright Star

**Author's Note:**

> First Ladybug fanfic, but hopefully not the last. Thanks to AdJit who helped me through my frustrations. Enjoy!

How many more times could he offer himself to her before he broke?

Chat Noir had learned to keep his feelings out of their partnership. The flirting and quips were just a part of a rhythm that they had grown accustomed to. Ladybug didn’t mind it, and neither of them took it seriously.

But then there were times when she responded. Not the winks, or the quick remarks that she shot back. He kept a close eye on her – he always had. It was part of the job – and it was the little things that struck him. The way her eyes darted to the left of him when she couldn’t look him in the eye, the way she bit her lip when he had hit something close to her heart, and the flush in her cheeks that she passed off as a part of the adrenaline rush. He let all her excuses slide, but he knew her well enough by now that he could tell when she was lying to him.

Or maybe he was just watching her too closely. Maybe he was looking for meaning where there wasn’t any – blinded by the hope from her trust in him, and that they knew each other better now. But then, how much did she really trust him anyway? With her life, certainly, but still not with her civilian life. He knew her beyond the hero she was, he saw her in her weaker moments, but still, he didn’t know who she was. Was there really a chance when she still kept up these walls?

So Chat told himself that he would do it one more time. Any more than that, and he really would break. He’d bare his heart to her for the last time, and if she didn’t accept it, well… then that would be that.

* * *

“You’re like a star, Ladybug.”

“How so?’

“You shine so bright.”

“Not all stars are bright.”

“Then you’re the north star. The brightest star.” He smiles and beckons her to sit on the roof next to him.

“What are you up to, you silly cat?”

His grin grows wider, and he takes her hand in his. She looks at him, knowing exactly what’s going to happen.

“Lady, I love you.”

“Oh Chat.”

The grin falters. “You make me want to be a better person. You’re the first person to believe in me, and to show me that it’s alright to be who I am. Is that not enough?”

She squeezes his hand and bites the inside of her cheek. “Chat it’s not that you’re not enough. I’m sorry, but I just…”

He stands and moves away from her. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say it.”

She reaches toward him, just as she always does, but he doesn’t take her hand. Instead, he flinches.

“Chat?”

“I have to go.” And he’s gone.

* * *

Marinette slipped through her window, back into her room. She let her transformation drop before she curled herself up on her bed. Tikki flew from her earrings and immediately went to her side.

“Chat’s tough. He’ll be okay.”

“But I still feel horrible.”

It had not been the first time that she refused him, and usually she didn’t feel so bad about it. He used to be obnoxious about it, or there would be something that she caught in his voice that made her question how genuine he was. In recent years, he had calmed down. He asked her less, and he seemed more serious, but she still didn’t feel the same way for him. After all, she couldn’t help her heart.

“Why?” Tikki questioned.

All the previous times, Chat had allowed her to comfort him, but there was more to it than that. In those moments they would sit in silence and know that despite everything, they were still partners. They were still together even if she didn’t want to be together. Those times were just as much for him as they were for her.

She would reach a hand out to him and he would take it, placing it on his cheek and nuzzling it. He would lean into her touch and smile, and she would know that he would recover from this. This time he flinched. He didn’t give her the chance to make him feel better. He didn’t even give her the chance to see if he would be alright. He flinched and in that moment they both knew that something had changed.

Marinette liked to joke that he was an alley cat, and he really did look like one. But he didn’t look like the carefree, untethered spirit that everyone usually thought of when they thought of Chat Noir at that moment. There were cracks in his voice and she saw the abandoned, lonely soul that he tried to hide.

“Because, Tikki, I really hurt him this time.”

Tikki kissed Marinette’s cheek and curled up next to her, burying herself in the crook of her neck. They would sleep now, and wait for time to work its magic. Marinette knew that she would feel better in the morning, and she could only hope that the same could be said for Chat.

* * *

Patrol was lonely, but it was better this way.

They patrolled separately for the next few days. Ladybug had said that this way was more efficient, and Adrien agreed. He wouldn’t be able to focus if he saw her now. He ignored the dull aching in his chest and ran across the rooftops he had been assigned.  
But Paris at night was beautiful and glowing; it was a sight that was meant to be shared.

The sun had set and Chat finished the last of his patrol. He jumped over the buildings and calculated the fastest route home. On his way, he caught sight of Alya leaving the bakery Marinette’s parents owned. He followed her for a little bit, amused that, for once, he was the one watching her and not the other way around, but the diversion didn’t last long. His mind drifted back to Ladybug.

No. He was not going to do this to himself.

He had told himself that that was the last time, and that he would leave it after that. Anymore and he was just a glutton for punishment. Chat retraced his steps back to the route he had mapped out in his head. The sooner he was home, the sooner he was out of costume and a step farther away from her. After all, Adrien Agreste had no connection to Ladybug.

This time, when he passed the bakery, he saw Marinette on her balcony. She saw him immediately and called out to him.  
Chat nearly stumbled off the side of the building, but he caught himself. He stopped to wave to Marinette, like he would to any adoring fan, but there was concern on her face. He judged the distance between the roof he was on and her balcony, and then he jumped.  
He landed with grace and on all fours. “Princess, is everything okay?”

Marinette hadn’t thought of what to do next. She had called out to him as a reflex – she hadn’t really meant to do. After all, she had spent the whole day worried about him, and figured that distance was best. She had planned to do her patrols much later than normal so as to avoid Chat until things between them were normal again, or until someone turned into an akuma. She hadn’t planned on seeing him at all.

“F-fine, everything’s fine,” she stuttered. Chat stood and looked down at her, getting too close into her personal space. Marinette didn’t usually stutter. Well, she did with Adrien, but not with Chat. So he searched her face for a hint of her thoughts.

“Then what’s with the face?”

“What face?”

“You looked worried.”

Damn it. She had let her worry for him leak into her civilian identity.

“It’s nothing.”

Now he was curious.

He tilted his head and brought his face enough closer to hers. She saw herself reflected in his green eyes – eyes that seemed to stare into her soul – he blinked, and then broke into a grin.

“You’re hiding something.”

Her eyes darted to the left of him, unable to meet his eyes. “No I’m not.”

Chat was stunned. He took a step back and then it was Marinette’s turn to question him.

“Are you okay?” she reached out to him, putting a hand on his arm, but he flinched – something about this moment was too familiar.

“Ow!”

Marinette looked at her finger. She had been cut by one of his claws.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s just a little cut.”

“Don’t you know, Princess? It’s the smallest cuts that bleed the most.” Chat took her hand in his and then licked her wound. She pulled back.

“What are you doing?”

He grinned. “Cat saliva. It helps.”

She looked at him skeptically. “I think I’ll just disinfect it and put a bandage over it.” She turned to go back into her room. She kept a first aid kit there, having poked herself with one too many needles when working on a project.

“Sorry.”

Marinette looked over her shoulder. The smile was gone, and while it was nowhere as bad as the day she had rejected him, there was something of that sadness on his face.

He turned to jump off her balcony, but she grabbed his wrist. “Wait. I’ll tell you.”

“What?”

“I’ll tell you what’s on my mind. I mean, why I looked so worried before.” She tilted her head towards the trap door and the two of them climbed into her room. He sat on her chair and watched as she fixed up her finger. She took a seat on the chaise lounge.

“I’ve got a friend who likes me,” she started. “And he asked me out.”

“Love problems then?” It occurred to Chat just then that he didn’t know much about Marinette. He knew that she liked fashion and designing, that she was awkward and stuttered around him, and that her best friend was Alya, but that was it. Just surface level stuff.

“Well, I don’t like him, and this isn’t the first time he’s asked me out.”

“What did you say?”

“I told him I didn’t like him the same way.”

“At least you were honest.”

“But I really hurt him, and I feel bad. I figured it would be best to give him some time and space, but I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

“Well, that’s really all you can do for him, isn’t it?” The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on him. How similar was this to what he was going through right at that moment? He wondered who the other guy was.

“I guess. It’s just… I miss him too.”

“But you turned him down.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t miss him.” Marinette looked him directly in the eyes. Chat inhaled, holding her gaze. There was something different about Marinette. Something that Adrien had never seen in her before. A kind of gentleness that was insistent and firm.  
A plea for forgiveness?

“Who is he?”

“Now that I can’t tell you.”

“Well it’s not like I would know him, right?”

Marinette shook her head and they fell into a silence. Chat spun around in her chair and looked around her room. So this was what Marinette’s life was like. What a normal teenager’s life was like. Just homework and friends and simple love. No confusion over masks and identities and loving people who you didn’t even really know.

His ring beeped just then and both of them looked to his hand. Chat stood and patted Marinette on her head. “Well princess, I’m sure he’ll come around. I’ll see you later, okay?”

He climbed through the window onto her balcony and jumped to the next roof. When he looked back at her balcony, Marinette was standing there, watching him go. He waved and went on his way, wondering who could have asked her out.

He had his suspicions.

* * *

The next day, Adrien walked into class early. He dropped his bag by his desk and greeted Nino, but proceeded to the back of the classroom. He clasped a hand on Nathanael’s shoulder and gave him a sad smile.

“It’s tough buddy, I know. But Marinette really cares about you, so talk to her soon, okay?”

Adrien went back to his seat, and when Nino asked him what that was all about, he shrugged. Nathanael gaped at Adrien, face red, and unsure of what to do with the information he had just received.


End file.
